Ongoing storm disaster thread

[bmags]

This looks awful now and likely to get worse. I hope any soxtalkers in way are safe. The pictures of Houston this morning look impossible.

 

 

[StrangeSox]

Over a thousand rescues just last night. FEMA guy was on CNN, and they're were asked "are you prepared to be here for months?" Response: "we'll be here for years"

[Kyyle23]

[bmags]

Worst case scenario forecasts look likely. Have to hope coast guard and others can get to all emergency Evacs. Houston is a tremendous American city, so hard to watch.

[southsider2k5]

Worst case scenario forecasts look likely. Have to hope coast guard and others can get to all emergency Evacs. Houston is a tremendous American city, so hard to watch.

 

It looks even worse than the initial forecasts. They were talking about up to 30 inches in localized areas early. Now they are putting up to 50! in some localized areas. Houston could get a years worth of rain in a few days time.

[Balta1701]

Hi everyone! I'm upstream from Houston, aside from a handful of streets that have been overtopped by streams around me there's no major issues for me, haven't lost power yet, basically we've had 10-12 inches of rain in 36 hours and we're expecting that again in the next 24 hours. So first, I'm good.

 

Houston downstream is a disaster area. I have a bunch of colleagues at Johnson Space Center giving "we're safe" updates, one buddy of mine says that his neighbors house flooded for first time since it was built in 1965 but his house was (deliberately) 6 inches higher and so currently is dry. They're about 11-12 feet above sea level. Houston was hit by a major flood last April on April 15 (Tax Day), that was supposed to be like a thousand year flood and this is already substantially worse. Watching the news folks evacuate their studios today as water comes in, they're in "Katrina" mode of neighbors with boats evacuating people and trying not to have the boat split into pieces by debris.

[bmags]

Thanks Balta stay safe, and I hope your colleagues can stay above this storm level for another day.

 

 

[Balta1701]

Over 500 boat and helicopter emergency evacuations reported in Houston so far, calling in emergency services from around country, water is still going up, many of the highways are becoming impassible so if people do need to leave the roads out of Houston are slowly shutting down.

 

Houston is just getting a highway of rain from the gulf right now. It comes up to me after it dumps in Houston so I get a boatload of water, but they get 2x as much.

 

I just had statewide weather coverage preempted by local weather coverage on TV.

[dasox24]

I'm in Houston right now. Safe at the moment. I've never seen this much rain in my life. The backyard at my parents' house is basically a shallow pool, but fortunately, the house is slightly elevated, which mostly sweeps water away from the house, down the driveway, and into the street. Hasn't breached the house yet, but keeping a very close eye. Pretty nerve-wracking. A family friend went from "fine" to his whole house being submerged with 4 feet of water in a matter of hours. He'll lose everything. It can happen so quickly. That's the scary thing.

 

We just need a break. Even if it's just an hour. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened and not sure that it will. This is the worst-case scenario playing out.

[greg775]

Prayers for all. Damn I feel horrible about this.

There's a picture on twitter of old folks in an nursing home simply sitting in water on couches. I did have a question for those of you in Houston. I've been watching the news and I think they said virtually all highways are impassable.

The TV guy maybe out of habit was talking about weather during the "rush" on Monday. My question is ... with rain scheduled through Wednesday are you basically stuck in your homes in Houston? Even if your street somehow isn't under water, is there anywhere you can go? My guess is no because so many areas are under water. Houston is one of the most congested, most populated areas in the country. You hear horror stories about traffic there when the roads are dry. Just total horror stories. So what happens now? Are all those people confined to their homes for a week minimum?? I mean if the roads are impassable and I read the highways are impassable are you just stuck?? Will neighbors band together and share food?

Peace.

[dasox24]

Prayers for all. Damn I feel horrible about this.

There's a picture on twitter of old folks in an nursing home simply sitting in water on couches. I did have a question for those of you in Houston. I've been watching the news and I think they said virtually all highways are impassable.

The TV guy maybe out of habit was talking about weather during the "rush" on Monday. My question is ... with rain scheduled through Wednesday are you basically stuck in your homes in Houston? Even if your street somehow isn't under water, is there anywhere you can go? My guess is no because so many areas are under water. Houston is one of the most congested, most populated areas in the country. You hear horror stories about traffic there when the roads are dry. Just total horror stories. So what happens now? Are all those people confined to their homes for a week minimum?? I mean if the roads are impassable and I read the highways are impassable are you just stuck?? Will neighbors band together and share food?

Peace.

People are definitely stuck in their homes until the flooding recedes. They're being encouraged to stay off the roads. Emergency crews are already swamped as it is. Because the whole metro area is affected, companies are telling their people to stay home. My flight home today was cancelled, and then my re-booked flight tomorrow has now also been cancelled, so I'm stuck here until at least Tuesday. I'll be working from the house as long as we have power.

 

The city strongly encouraged people to load up at least 3-5 days' worth of supplies before the storm hit, so hopefully people listened. And yeah, as with anywhere, I'm sure communities will band together and help each other out in times of need.

Edited August 27, 2017 by dasox24

[Balta1701]

If you're in Houston yeah, basically at this point hunker down. Any decision you make is a poor one. If you are leaving your house it's a poor decision, so staying better be a worse decision.

 

It would have made a freeway mess on Friday, but Houston's mayor probably should have ordered evacuation on thursday from that forecast and then switched to "shelter in place" Saturday evening.

 

The Mayor is on MSNBC giving his explanation right now and it sounds like excuses.

[StrangeSox]

Edited August 27, 2017 by StrangeSox

[Quin]

That is an amazing photo

[StrangeSox]

[southsider2k5]

If you're in Houston yeah, basically at this point hunker down. Any decision you make is a poor one. If you are leaving your house it's a poor decision, so staying better be a worse decision.

 

It would have made a freeway mess on Friday, but Houston's mayor probably should have ordered evacuation on thursday from that forecast and then switched to "shelter in place" Saturday evening.

 

The Mayor is on MSNBC giving his explanation right now and it sounds like excuses.

 

To be fair, they tried that with NOLA, which was less than half of the size city of Houston, it gridlocked everything an insane amount, and the people who needed to leave didn't actually leave. If all of Metro-Houston had tried to leave, we are talking something like 5 million people trying to push out on I-10, I-45 and the rest of the highways and FMs.

[Balta1701]

To be fair, they tried that with NOLA, which was less than half of the size city of Houston, it gridlocked everything an insane amount, and the people who needed to leave didn't actually leave. If all of Metro-Houston had tried to leave, we are talking something like 5 million people trying to push out on I-10, I-45 and the rest of the highways and FMs.

This is a very good point. It would have been helpful to have more people out but I don't know what could have been done.

[Balta1701]

So, tonight's story is that there are 2 old, needing of upgrade but that costs money so no upgrade dams NW of Houston that are literally the reason the City is able to exist. Those dams are now full and at risk of collapse, so the Corps is going to open the floodgates. This will push rapid rises in water level overnight and as long as they are open, but hopefully will prevent their complete collapse.

Upstream and west of Houston, two giant reservoirs, built in the 1940s to protect the city from flooding, are already nearing capacity. The Addicks and Barker dams, which hold back the reservoirs’ collective 410,000 acre-feet of water, were deemed by the Army Corps of Engineers to be at “extremely high risk of catastrophic failure” in 2009 and named two of the country’s six most dangerous dams in 2012. (One acre-foot of water is enough to cover a football field with a foot of water.) If the dams fail, the Houston Chronicle reported last year, half the city could be underwater.

 

The Army Corps of Engineers, which runs the dams, plans to release water from them around 2 a.m. local time Monday morning to prevent them from failing ― an unprecedented move. Water will rise about 4 to 6 inches per hour in Buffalo Bayou, which cuts through downtown Houston, after the release. Much of the area is already flooded from the heavy rain. All roads near the dams will be flooded “for an extended period of time,” and homes upstream of the reservoirs could be flooded for months, Col. Lars Zetterstrom, the Corps’ district commander, said Sunday.

 

“We’re watching stuff real closely with the [Army] Corp of Engineers, trying to preserve the integrity of the dams,” Harris County meteorologist Jeff Lindner said at a press conference Sunday. “This is the first time we’ve ever done this.”

 

The dams will release some 4,000 cubic feet of water per second once they’re opened, but officials expect that even more water will be flowing into the reservoirs than will be flowing out ― meaning that water levels will continue to rise and further strain the dams.

 

IIRC one of them is on the same river that drains my area. IT has been absolutely pouring here for the past 4 hours and it hasn't stopped raining for a minute today. All that water will eventually wind up in these dams.

[StrangeSox]

Balta or anyone else in the area, do you know of any good local charities that could use donations for hurricane relief efforts?

[LittleHurt05]

To be fair, they tried that with NOLA, which was less than half of the size city of Houston, it gridlocked everything an insane amount, and the people who needed to leave didn't actually leave. If all of Metro-Houston had tried to leave, we are talking something like 5 million people trying to push out on I-10, I-45 and the rest of the highways and FMs.

 

I read today that they tried to evacuate before Rita 10 years ago. The storm itself was a dud, but over 100 people died during evacuation as it became an utter s***show for reasons you mentioned. That may have given them second thoughts about evacuating this time

[Balta1701]

Balta or anyone else in the area, do you know of any good local charities that could use donations for hurricane relief efforts?

This is the 4th biggest city in the country, so I'd be genuinely surprised if there's any one charity that will be substantially better than others. Pick some list of quality ones. As with most disasters, money >>>>> any sort of supplies as you can't evacuate people or pay for medical treatment with supplies.

[Chisoxfn]

Over 500 boat and helicopter emergency evacuations reported in Houston so far, calling in emergency services from around country, water is still going up, many of the highways are becoming impassible so if people do need to leave the roads out of Houston are slowly shutting down.

 

Houston is just getting a highway of rain from the gulf right now. It comes up to me after it dumps in Houston so I get a boatload of water, but they get 2x as much.

 

I just had statewide weather coverage preempted by local weather coverage on TV.

 

 

I'm in Houston right now. Safe at the moment. I've never seen this much rain in my life. The backyard at my parents' house is basically a shallow pool, but fortunately, the house is slightly elevated, which mostly sweeps water away from the house, down the driveway, and into the street. Hasn't breached the house yet, but keeping a very close eye. Pretty nerve-wracking. A family friend went from "fine" to his whole house being submerged with 4 feet of water in a matter of hours. He'll lose everything. It can happen so quickly. That's the scary thing.

 

We just need a break. Even if it's just an hour. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened and not sure that it will. This is the worst-case scenario playing out.

Stay safe Brian/Evan. Just crazy.

[StrangeSox]

ProPublica had a piece last year investigating how vulnerable Houston was to flooding from a hurricane. If anything, they underestimated the worst-case scenarios, but it's still an interesting read.

 

Boomtown, Flood Town

[Balta1701]

ProPublica had a piece last year investigating how vulnerable Houston was to flooding from a hurricane. If anything, they underestimated the worst-case scenarios, but it's still an interesting read.

 

Boomtown, Flood Town

Ironically, I don't believe this is a worst case scenario by any stretch. It's major flooding, but the storm itself didn't strike the city. Worst case scenario combines this amount of rainfall with a direct storm surge strike.

 

This has been bugging me all day - 2k5 is right, you can't evacuate that city in 2 days, but at the same time the 500 year floodplains of these rivers are now being filled 3 times in the last 2 years. I am getting now why ordering an evac would be a disaster, but that means because the city is so big you're leaving the people who can't afford to evac on their own as sitting ducks.

 

I don't know what the answer is here, but this isn't a situation I'm comfortable with. Either we have dozens of dead people and tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer funds flowing into Houston every 10 years or so, or we rethink how this city operates before the next one hits - and basically none of the big time storm surge protection projects would have put a dent in this flooding, they were aimed at the last storm.

 

[Balta1701]

Harvey has moved back out over the Gulf of Mexico and is restrengthening, with its sustained winds rising from 35 to 45 miles per hour. Its track keeps shifting east, which takes it away from Houston but towards areas in Louisiana that have already had issues with flooding this summer - New Orleans really can't take this right now.